Dementia Awareness Week 14 - 20 May 2017

Each year, Venn Group’s employees vote on their charity to support for Year; this year, we chose to support Alzheimer’s Society as our charity of 2017.

Alzheimer’s Society is the UK’s leading dementia charity and provides over 3,000 local support services for people affected by the condition. Their vision is of a radically improved world for people with dementia.

Dementia describes a group of symptoms that trigger deterioration of brain function. These symptoms are progressive and eventually severe. Alzheimer's disease is the most common type of dementia, affecting 62% of those diagnosed.

Dementia costs the UK roughly £26.3 billion a year, equating to around £32,250 per person with dementia. However, only £90 per person is spent on research. With roughly 225,000 people developing dementia every year it is important money is spent on continued research looking into the causes of dementia, finding better treatments and potential cures. That’s why this year Venn Group is joining Alzheimer’s Society in uniting against dementia.

Our fundraising target for 2017 is £20,000 and this Dementia Awareness Week we are looking to increase our fundraising total even further. Across the company we are holding various fundraising events throughout this week, including bake sales, quizzes, wearing blue for dementia and office picnics.

In uniting against dementia this Dementia Awareness Week, we can increase awareness and reduce the stigma surrounding dementia. A donation of just £20 could pay for a person with dementia to spend an hour with an experienced Dementia Support Worker helping them to remain independent in their own home for longer.